Mindfulness Journal - May 2, 2021 - Day 34 of 365
Today was a long, but awesome, day. Spent some time with my parents and my family and just had fun. It was a nice break, felt like a true weekend. Too foten we are so busy that we fail to notice that life is passing us by, that we are missing the things that should be the most important to us. Family, friends, and laughing. MIndfulness has helped me understand that being present for these moments is the sinlge most important thing you can do.
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord .” Joshua 24:14
Gratitude Journal - May 2, 2021
Today, I am grateful for physical fitness. I have been blessed to have somewhat of a second chance at living a life with a healthy body. In my youger years I started down the road of obesity and ill-health. Thankfully, I recognized where I was headed and took steps to change my path. It was not on my own and I certianly had a lot of help along the way. Maintaining physical fitness and health is a daily battle. Some days I win and sometimes bad habits, junk food, and laziness take over. For phycial fitness, I am grateful.
Mindfulness Journal - May 1, 2021 - Day 33 of 365 Keeping an open mind going into meditation is an important part of mindfulness. If you approach your meditation sessions with expectations or desired outcomes, you will find it difficult to be successful. Rather, keeping your mind open to whatever comes will allow your sessions to be more positive and deliver better results.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Luke 6:32-35
Gratitude Journal - May 1, 2021 Today, I am grateful for electricity. The power of electricity brings so much into our everyday lives; heat, air conditioning, lights, television, internet, and much more. Many of the modern conveniences we take for granted every day would not be possible without electricity. For electricity, I am grateful.
Mindfulness Journal - April 30, 2021 - Day 32 of 365 Today’s meditation was longer than I’ve gone before and I really enjoyed the extra time. While it was only 5 minutes longer than yesterday, the extra time was nice. It allowed me the time to focus and let the distratections move past. Overall, a good experience.
“Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”” John 2:19
Gratitude Journal - April 30, 2021 Today, I am grateful for the spellchecker. I spell words wrong all the time and, thanks to my trusty spellchecker, they usually get corrected. Having words misspelled looks unprofessional and reduces confidence. For spellcheck, I am grateful.
Mindfulness Journal - April 29, 2021 - Day 31 of 365 As I continue to grow in my mindfulness practice, I am coming to learn that mindfulness does not require a place, it does not require a particular time, and mindfulness does not require a special chair or a fancy pillow. Mindfulness can come to you anywhere you are and can take you to anywhere you need to be. You can be alone, or God Himself can join you in your meditation. There are no limits and no restrictions. Everything you need can be found in your focus and your breath.
If you are restricting yourself to the correct location, time, or setting for your mindfulness practice, you miss a crucial aspect of mindfulness; mindfulness will meet you where you are.
“For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:11
Gratitude Journal - April 29, 2021 Today, I am grateful for baseball. Baseball is such a fun sport, and I love watching and coaching my son. I’m looking forward to another fun season of coaching, cheering, and (hopefully) winning! For baseball and everything that comes with it, I am grateful.
Mindfulness Journal - April 28, 2021 - Day 30 of 365 Today’s meditation was fascinating in that I was very aware that I was feeling anger and anxiety, but I was unsure why. When I have anxiety, it washes over me in waves and builds, wave-upon-wave, until I can feel it crashing down over me. It’s suffocating and uncomfortable. I haven’t yet figured out how to let this cloud of anxiety and anger pass. I can’t see the blue sky when this wave hits.
I was listening to an audiobook today, and the author said something that I think is related to my troubles today. He stated that he finds most troubling two types of anxiety: worry, anxiety about the future, and regret, anxiety about the past. These are the things I most frequently find myself getting anxious about - the future and the past. Unfortunately, these anxieties prohibit me from focusing on the one thing I can control and shape, the present.
“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Colossians 3:16
Gratitude Journal - April 28, 2021 Today, I am grateful for having started this gratitude journal and making a part of my day. Today, I’m not feeling very grateful. I feel beaten and worn down. But, having this gratitude journal forces me each day to reevaluate the things in my life that I have for which I should be grateful. Today, this helped me reset a bit - not totally, I still feel a little down - but this process at least allowed me the opportunity to see that not all things are bad and that I do have things in my life to be grateful for. For this, I am grateful.
Mindfulness Journal - April 27, 2021 - Day 29 of 365 One of the things I started thinking about recently was how mindfulness and meditation work with Christian beliefs and values. Thankfully, they seem to work well together. You don’t have to be a Buddhist to practice mindfulness successfully. Further, you can certainly use the time spent in meditation and introspection to strengthen your spiritual relationship with God. Being true to who you are, or knowing your true nature, is a critical tenant of Buddhism. From my perspective, this includes room for being a Christian and knowing Christ. I don’t see any need to change my faith or modify my beliefs to allow for mindfulness in my life; there is no conflict. I think my mindfulness practice brings me closer to God and helps me find a more intimate place to meet Him.
“May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.” Psalms 104:34
“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
“May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love.” Proverbs 5:18-19
Gratitude Journal - April 27, 2021 Today, I am grateful for having the time each day to stop, be aware of what is going on, and take inventory of what I am doing. This awareness allows me the opportunity to make better decisions, lower my stress levels, and reduce my overall anxiety. For this, I am grateful.
Mindfulness Journal - April 26, 2021 - Day 28 of 365 Today’s meditation focused on trying to carry your mindfulness practice on to the rest of the day. Being mindful throughout the day, paying attention to what you are doing when you are doing it, and focusing on being present all provide opportunities to improve your daily life. Being fully present all the time is no easy task. I think we’ve all become so accustomed to simply doing without thinking that breaking that habit and putting thought into each action is a challenge. Mindfulness requires that we are not mindlessly doing things and that we are aware of what and why we are doing something.
“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.” Psalms 125:1-2
